Two killed, two wounded in New Year's shootings in city

Reading Police Chief William M. Heim, foreground, looks on as police investigate two shootings, one fatal, on South Third Street early New Year's Day.

Reading did not see sunlight in 2013 before police were investigating two killings on city streets.

Two men were also wounded in the separate shootings about 80 minutes apart early Tuesday, police said.

Police identified the dead as Luis Medina, 19, of South Third Street and Najeebie Johnson, 34, of Robeson Street.

The killings marked a rough start to a new year in a city that has seen a resurgence in violent crime.

"We’ve had three homicides within the past week," Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said. "It’s very concerning to me that we’ve started (the new year) and the violence is continuing."

There were 15 homicides in the city in 2012 and a total of 21 in the county. Neither number was a record. The record is from 2000 when there were 25 city homicides and a total of 38 across Berks.

Local and state officials are planning a crime summit on Jan. 18 to develop strategies for curbing violence. The biggest hurdle likely will be putting more officers on the streets with little money available, Adams said.

"We have a continuing lack of resources," he said.

Reading police Sgt. John M. Solecki said officers spent Tuesday knocking on doors and interviewing witnesses to learn everything they could about the early-morning homicides.

Medina was fatally shot at 2:30 a.m. while intervening in a fight between his brother-in-law and three men outside Medina’s home in the 100 block of South Third Street, investigators said.

"These were people who were familiar with one another," Solecki said.

He said Medina and two of his brothers came outside to help their brother-in-law. At least one of the attackers had a gun and shot Medina and one of his brothers, a 22-year-old who also lives on the block.

The brother, whose name police did not release, was taken to Reading Hospital. Information on his condition was unavailable.

In the next shooting, Johnson of the 1200 block of Robeson Street was driving through northeast Reading about 3:50 a.m. with two other men, whose names police did not release, looking for a club where they were supposed to meet somebody, Solecki said.

"These three gentlemen were together most of the night," he said. "They had no problems, no disputes. Everything was going well."

On a second pass on Amity Street, they stopped to ask a pedestrian for directions. The man at first seemed to not understand what they were asking and then produced a gun. He fired several shots into the car, grazing one passenger’s shoulder and hitting Johnson, Solecki said.

Johnson managed to drive away as the man continued to shoot at the vehicle. The car traveled two blocks on North Ninth Street before Johnson lost consciousness and crashed into a fence at Kutztown Road and Exeter Street.

By Tuesday night, Solecki said, evidence was pointing towards a second shooter on the other side of the street.

Nikki Freymoyer, 19, who lives next door to where Johnson crashed, said she awoke to a loud noise.

Her family members ran outside to see what happened.

"It is scary," Freymoyer said. "It’s too close to home."

The passenger who was grazed, a 38-year-old Reading man, was treated by emergency responders, Solecki said. Johnson was pronounced dead at 7:05 a.m. by Deputy Coroner Matthew Mears.

Autopsies on Medina and Johnson are scheduled for today in Reading Hospital.